Kite Pharma Takes Flight And Retreats

Joel Elconin is the co-host of Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep, a daily trading idea radio show.

Kite Pharma Inc KITE shares were trading higher by $1.50 at $72.80 in Friday's session. With no specific news out on the issue, let's take a technicals for a possible explanation for the rally.

After a flat open, it declined and found support well above Thursday's low ($69.68), only reaching $70.68 before staging a rebound. The ensuing rally surpassed the pair of highs from Tuesday ($72.73) and Wednesday ($72.74) scampering all the way to $74.50 before falling back under $74.00.

That marks the highest level for the issue since July 16, when it reached $75.08.

The company is due to report Q2 earnings on August 8. Since the company went public in June 2014, it has rallied from $21 to $89.21 in January. The rally took place despite the company never having a profitable quarter on an EPS basis, with its best performance being a ($0.19) in Q4 of last year.

Editor's note: At time of publication, shares traded at $72.43, up $1.26.